Delaware Wind Power Farm Gains Viability Through Major Investor

"The long-awaited, $800 million deal could make Delaware the first state in the nation to build a wind farm off its shores. An array of as many as 70 towering windmills would rise in a tract east of Rehoboth Beach by 2012."

"The pact comes after dozens of public hearings and legislative debates and growing pressure on lawmakers from grassroots citizens groups that backed a shift to clean, locally generated power to meet the state's future electrical needs."

"Now that the contract is in hand, Bluewater and its parent company, the Australian investment firm Babcock and Brown, will try to find other buyers, including other utilities, businesses or governmental entities."

"The company also has a long list of local, state and federal permits to win before it can build -- approvals that will require it to prove the wind farm will comply with laws protecting birds, sea life, shipping lanes and even shipwrecks."